Observations: Warriors Hand Bulls 4th Straight Loss in Steph Curry's Return

Observations: Curry, Warriors hand Bulls fourth straight loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Bulls dropped their fourth straight game with a 116-102 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, who snapped a four-game losing streak of their own.

Here are 15 observations:

1. Billy Donovan shook up his starting lineup for this one. In Nikola Vučević's Bulls debut, Lauri Markkanen began the game alongside him in the frontcourt, and the defensive results were disastrous. The Spurs scored 22 of their 33 first-quarter points in the paint that night -- outscoring the Bulls entire team, which scored 20 -- en route to a blowout victory.

So against the Warriors, Thad Young slid into Markkanen's place, moving the fourth-year forward to the bench for just the second game of his career.

2. Vučević, who was good, not spectacular, in his debut, got off to a rollicking start, scoring (8) or assisting (4) on the Bulls' first 12 points. From cross-court passes out of the post to pick-and-pop jumpers to transition lay-ins, he had it all working. The Bulls were +5 in his eight first-quarter minutes, but trailed 34-29 entering the second after the Warriors mounted a 15-5 run upon him checking out.

Those do-it-all trends continued until the Bulls fell out of the game. Vučević finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in 27 minutes.

3. Patrick Williams benefitted from Vučević first two dimes of the night, which opened scoring for the Bulls. On two occasions, Vučević slung passes out of the post two Williams on the perimeter, and the rookie was able to attack a bent Warriors defense and hit floaters.

Throughout, Williams exploited cracks in the Warriors defense opened by their urgency to hassle LaVine and Vučević. He finished with 14 points (7-for-13 shooting) and 4 assists, just his fourth time scoring in double-figures since the All-Star break. For someone like Williams, who at this stage in his career is assist-dependent and is at his best attacking bent defenses, playing alongside two gravitational offensive players could have big dividends.

4. The Bulls' offense hummed at a level it didn't sniff in their first post-deadline game against the Spurs early. They shot 61.4 percent and assisted on 22 of 27 made field goals in the first half -- half of those assists came from Vučević (6) and Tomáš Satoranský (5) while Ryan Arcidiacono, Zach LaVine and Williams each slung three apiece.

By the end of the third quarter, they had 31 assists on 37 made field goals as a team and were 56.1 percent from the field. But things unraveled in the fourth.

5. It was ominous when the Bulls, despite their efficient early offense, trailed 65-60 at the half. A 14-point defeat is downright dispiriting. The defense continues to be a problem area, especially on dribble-drives and in transition, where they found frequently themselves cross-matched.

6. Did the Warriors get some shooting luck? Sure. They shot 11-for-21 from 3-point range in the first half, and finished the game 16-for-38 (43.2 percent). Draymond Green even hit three of his five long-range attempts, including a desperation heave to beat the shot clock early.

The Bulls, meanwhile, shot 6-for-24 (25 percent), moving them to 25 percent from 3 in their current four-game losing streak. That's a factor -- a big one -- in the final tally, but the Bulls' defensive and turnover (20, off which the Warriors scored 19 points) troubles went beyond it.

7. Plus, that's what happens when you play a Steph Curry-led team. Curry saw action for the first time since March 17 after missing five games with a tailbone contusion (in which the Warriors went 1-4), and... Uh... Looked pretty good. He played all 12 minutes of the first quarter and scored 13 points while shooting 3-for-6 from 3-point range. By halftime, he was up to 18 points, 4-for-8 from distance.

His grandest display, though, came in the third, when again played the full 12 minutes and posted 14 points. The Warriors started the fourth quarter ahead by 11 points, and extended that lead to 18 by the time Curry checked back in with 5:38 remaining. Curry finished with 32 points, 6 assists and six made 3-pointers in 30 minutes.

8. Donovan had his rotation squeezed with the late news that Coby White wouldn't play with neck spasms and Garrett Temple leaving the contest after two first-quarter minutes. Ryan Arcidiacono was the first guard off the bench, while Javonte Green took Temple's first half rotational turns. Troy Brown Jr. played 16 minutes and notched 5 points and 3 steals, but most of those came late. Al-Farouq Aminu and Denzel Valentine, who got minutes against the Spurs, received DNPs. Devon Dotson got garbage-time run.

9. The Bulls really can't afford to play any minutes without Vučević, LaVine or Thad Young on the floor. Without all three from the 4:41 to 1:14 mark of the third quarter, they saw an 80-76 deficit grow to 92-82, and the Warriors never looked back.

10. LaVine finished with 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting. It may have been an off night. It may be growing pains playing with an overhauled roster. It may have been the rabid double-teams he faced all game. While he'll never use it as an excuse, LaVine is also now averaging 15 points on 10-for-31 shooting in two games since spraining his ankle against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the eve of the trade deadline. It's the first time he's been held under 20 points in back-to-back games since December 2019.

11. Markkanen logged 22 minutes and scored 13 points, shooting 3-for-4 from deep, in the second reserve appearance of his career. He also struggled defensively, especially when the Warriors went small to match him with Kelly Oubre Jr., who poured in 18 points.

12. Bright spot alert: Daniel Theis' debut went exactly as you'd expect. He notched 6 points, 2 blocks and a steal in his first nine-minute stint. The dude was everywhere on the court and provided nice verticality even on the shot contests that didn't result in blocks.

Theis was the Bulls' first sub of the second half -- over Markkanen -- for Thad Young and immediately dished a nice assist to Williams. He finished with 3 assists on top of his above contributions in 22 minutes.

13. Yes, it's only the new-look Bulls' second game together. And yes, shooting luck played a part. But the Bulls can't afford to take many more losses like this, even with the Raptors sputtering. Now 19-26, they're losers of four straight and continue to sit on the fringe of the Eastern Conference playoff picture in 10th place. The Wizards and Raptors each lurk two games back.

14. Old friends report, because these three have made waves since the Bulls traded them on the March 25 trade deadline:

• Chandler Hutchison played 25 minutes (all 12 of the fourth) and scored 18 points in the Wizards' 132-124 win over the Indiana Pacers Monday night, his first game back after not playing since Feb. 5 for personal reasons. Hutchison had scored 13 points all season entering play.
• Two nights after hitting two 3-pointers and registering a +21 plus-minus in 13 minutes in a Boston Celtics win, Luke Kornet scored 10 points and shot 2-for-4 from distance in a narrow loss to the Pelicans.
• Daniel Gafford scored 13 points and swatted 3 shots in his Wizards debut and was on his way to another strong showing against the Pacers Monday, notching 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 15 minutes. But he unfortunately went suffered a tough fall and had to exit the game in a wheelchair. Heart goes out to Gafford:

15. The Bulls started the season with a starting lineup of Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams and three others presumed members of the team's young core -- Markkanen, White and Wendell Carter Jr. Just over halfway through the season, one (Carter) has been traded, and the other two have now been relegated to reserve roles.

16. The Bulls have now lost eight straight to the Warriors.

Next up: In Phoenix, Ariz. for the Suns on Wednesday. Seven of the Bulls' next eight games are on the road.

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